In Good Hands

Anne Samat’s sculptures woven from domestic materials bring attention to the art of weaving.

- Nadya Wang

Boldly colourful, with sharp and protruding metallic edges, smooth tapestry surfaces, as well as textured braided strands, Malaysian artist Anne Samat’s wall sculptures are woven by hand using an array of fibres and found objects. With the mixed materials, her artworks appear simultaneously hard and soft, alluding to the complexity of identity and nationhood.

For Samat’s works, the whole is certainly greater than the sum of its parts, and the components contribute significantly to the overall message. With the use of primarily functional household items such as colander and fork to make her aesthetically arresting artworks, one cannot help but think about the Chinese saying that praises the woman who is as adept in the kitchen as she is presentable in the living room.

We speak with Anne Samat to learn more about the traditional weaving techniques she creatively employs to make her contemporary artworks and the concepts behind them.

How would you prefer your artworks described: as textile design, weavings, sculptures, or contemporary fibre art?

To be honest, it doesn’t matter to me. This is not politics. Art is magical, universal, subjective, and open to any interpretation.

When and how did you pick up weaving?

It all started when I was in university. I knew nothing about weaving when I was a student. That’s the reason why I took weaving as my major. I wanted to learn something completely new and different.